Blood in the Water
by GrimmUlquigrrrl
Summary: Ulquiorra always considered himself more of a fish than a person. He loved the ocean, the water, the LIFE that was found there. But when he goes to spend a summer at his uncle's beach house, he discovers a kind of ocean life that shouldn't even exist.
1. Chapter 1

The taxi pulled up in front of the small blue beach house, and the driver tapped on the glass between him and his passenger. Ulquiorra started and tore his transfixed green gaze from the shimmering ocean and far-stretching white sands, looking around him. "Are we here?" he asked, seeing the house for the first time in several years. It hadn't changed much at all- perhaps it had been treated to a new coat of paint, but it was the same as it had always bee, and his uncle was waving emphatically from the back porch.

"You betcha," the driver said amiably, "but I'm not surprised you didn't notice. The instant you saw that water you were gone! Just like your uncle said." The teenager gave a little shrug and just a tiny smile, the latter of which he rarely did around strangers, but he was in an excellent mood. It had been far too long since the last time he'd seen a real beach.

His uncle knocked on the window with his usual wide smile, and Ulquiorra opened the door to go out and say hello. Even when he and his uncle stood side by side, no one would ever guess that they were so closely related. Where Ulquiorra's hair was dark black and his skin was pale, his uncle was much more healthy in color and his air was so blonde it was almost white. The only thing the two had in common was their tall, slim build. Ulquiorra accepted and lightly returned the tight hug he was given.

"Hey Gin," the driver said, rolling down the window.

"Hey Francis," Gin replied, "ya wanna get Ulquiorra's bags from the trunk and take 'em in? I'll tip ya somethin' extra." Francis heaved himself out of the taxi with an affirmative, and Ulquiorra really wasn't surprised that his uncle was on a first-name basis with the man- or that he would so readily bribe him.

"Uncle Gin, I can get it myself," Ulquiorra said, trying to turn his head to his nose wasn't pressed into Gin's blue t-shirt.

"Not while I'm huggin' on ya, ya can't," Gin said. "And I ain't lettin' go anytime soon. I haven't seen ya in forever- when'd you get so big?"

"It was a gradual process," Ulquiorra grunted, hearing Francis heave his suitcase out and slam the trunk shut.

"So how've ya been?" Gin asked excitedly, releasing his crushing hug to hold Ulquiorra at arm's length and rake him over with his blue eyes. Those were another thing different between them; Ulquiorra's eyes were large and round, but Gin's were much smaller and almond-shaped. "Ya need ta cut yer hair, ya have this little strand fallin' right in yer face here."

"Uncle, your hair is _always_ in your face," Ulquiorra pointed out. He itched to run to the shore and feel the frigid waters slap his feet and the sands flow out from under his toes.

"Is that so?" Gin said happily. "Ah, well. What've ya been doin' lately? I know ya've studied a lot, but what about yer friends? Whattaya do with them?"

"I don't really have any friends, Uncle," Ulquiorra reminded him. "Between my part-time job and studying I don't really have much time. I've never minded, school is more important."

"Mah, that's sad," Gin said, "but high school friends don't last anyway. You'll love college! Ya have so much more free time. But ya hafta promise me that you'll make some friends, or I'm gonna hafta make 'em for ya."

"I promise, Uncle," Ulquiorra sighed. He knew he ended to do that, but he'd never really had any good experiences with friendship before. He hoped people at college would be more accepting of him than people back on the mainland, or he'd never make any friends that weren't fish.

"Good!" Gin said. "I'd introduce ya to some people here, but there really ain't anybody yer age."

"That's okay," Ulquiorra said, looking to the ocean. "That's not why I'm here." Gin smiled.

"No, I guess it's not," he said.

"Hey, fellas," Francis said, walking back over across the beach, "bag's in, and I gotta get out."

"Oh, sorry," Ulquiorra said, breaking away from his uncle to reach into the cab and grab his duffle bag, hefting it onto his shoulder as Gin fished for his wallet. True to his word, he gave the man ten dollars extra for the long walk from the road to the house. Honestly, Ulquiorra was very glad that Gin had thought to do that for him. The house didn't have a driveway or anything of the like, and dragging a heavy suitcase through the shifting sand was not in any way enjoyable. Francis pocketed his money and got back in the car, and Gin steered Ulquiorra towards the house.

"So, are ya lookin' forward ta bein' here?" he asked as they stepped off the road.

"Very much so," Ulquiorra replied honestly. "It's been to long."

"Agreed," Gin said, patting Ulquiorra's back "Last time ya were here ya were what, eleven?"

"It was seven years ago, so yes, I believe so," Ulquiorra said. "You seemed taller."

"Ya seemed younger," Gin laughed, leading the way up the back stairs of white-painted wood. The house, which was raised slightly, faced the ocean and had its back to the road that led it into town, much like Ulquiorra. Gin held the door open for him.

"Thanks," Ulquiorra murmured, stepping into the familiar house. It was true that nothing had changed. There was a short but very thin hallway, with a bathroom on the right, that led into the kitchen. To the left of the kitchen was the family room, and directly past it was the dining room. The dining room led left into an open room, and both this room and the family room fed into a hallway. The first door was on the left, and it was the computer room. The next three doors were on the right, and the middle was a bathroom while the other two were bedrooms. There was a bathroom going between the two bedrooms, and both bathrooms were connected by the one lone shower. Across the hall from the furthest back bedroom was yet another bedroom, and honestly Ulquiorra really didn't know why his uncle had so many bedrooms but didn't have a washer or dryer. Thankfully there was a cheap laundromat rather close.

"Is this all ya brought?" Gin asked dubiously as Ulquiorra grabbed the handle of his rolling suitcase. "You're stayin' here all summer, you'll need more clothes than one suitcase worth!"

"This is all I need," Ulquiorra said. "Besides, most of my clothes are too heavy to have here. I need to buy more summer clothes. Which bedroom is mine?"

"The furthest one on the right," Gin said. "I'll take ya ta town tomorrow an' getcha some clothes; a whole ton a' new shops've opened since ya last came here, there's plenty to pick from."

"Alright," Ulquiorra said.

"Oh, just put yer suitcase down n' folla me," Gin said, "I got somethin' ta show ya. I really think you'll like it." Ulquiorra darted into his room and did as was told, then let his uncle lead him across the hall. Ulquiorra blinked. So much for 'nothing had changed.' What had been a small bedroom was now a room tiled with small electric blue tiles that looked very much like a locker room at a YMCA. There were three showerheads on the right wall, and two doors against the left. Gin excitedly led him to the closest of the and opened it to reveal tiled stairs that led down. Ulquiorra knit his eyebrows.

"What's all this?" he asked. Gin bounced on his feet.

"Go on down," he said, putting a hand out as if to present the staircase to Ulquiorra. He was really energetic. Ulquiorra looked at him again before starting down, holding not the railing to keep from slipping, his uncle following him close behind. Ulquiorra got the to bottom of the staircase, his flip-flops slapping loudly against his heels, and turned to the right as was dictated by the hallway. His jaw dropped.

"Well? Pretty surprisin', right?" Gin chirped from behind him. Ulquiorra just stared.

"A swimming pool?" he asked. "You had a swimming pool built in? Why?" He looked around him, stunned by the continuing tiles everywhere in the cavernous room and the rack of swim equipment and the thick line of dark blue that circled the echoing room and the smell of chlorine and the _pool._ Why on earth would a man who lives on the most beautiful, untouched ocean need a swimming pool?

"Well, I thought it'd soften the blow," Gin said, putting a hand on Ulquiorra's shoulder. "Ulquiorra, ya can't go in the ocean."

"What?" Ulquiorra asked explosively, snapping his head around. His whole body tensed. A picture flashed in his mind of the ocean just yards away from the front door, waves flashing like so many scales of a living, undulating fish, lapping against the sands, bluer than the sky, stretching forever and ever as if promising an eternity. All else would crumble, the face of the earth would change, but that ocean would always be there; a loyal and trustworthy friend who held all of life directly in its powerful hands. Ulquiorra was the one who had reluctantly betrayed it for the dry, taciturn mainland, and now that he was back he couldn't go to it? His hands clenched by his sides.

"Now, now," Gin said, putting his hands up as Ulquiorra stared at him, begging him with his eyes to take it back, "gimme a second to explain before ya go gettin' all worked up. There've been a lot o fatal shark attacks on this side of the island- in fact, all of 'em've been fatal. 26 deaths in 8 months- everyone who goes in the water gets killed."

"Haven't they put up shark nets?" Ulquiorra asked anxiously. There _had _to be a way...

"They did, but the attacks continued," Gin informed. "They that that the sharks're livin' in the bay, but they can't find 'em to hunt 'em out. They aren't sure what kinda sharks we're dealin' with, but they suspect a large group of either rather small 'r rather young sharks because the marks're almost the same size as a human's. Anyway, ya can go in up ta yer hips, but no deeper'n that. And ya can go out in the rowboat if ya want, since such small sharks can't turn over a vessel. Ya can be on the beach as much as ya like, and if ya wanna swim ya have this pool. I know it ain't the same, but it's somethin', ain't it?" Ulquiorra sighed, the strength leaving his body.

"Yes, it is. Thank you, Uncle Gin," he said. So, he couldn't go swimming- but at least he could get in up to his hips. That was something too. No replacement for the incredible, pulsing wildness, nothing that could fill the slowly re-opening chasm in his chest, but something. Gin meant the best.

"Alright," Gin said. "Now c'mon, let's getcha unpacked." Ulquiorra followed him up the stairs, wanting to banish the scent of chlorine with the ocean air.


	2. Chapter 2

_You guys, it's been such a long time since I uploaded anything T.T I'm so sorry for the wait, but a lot is coming once I get a chance to type it up. Please be patient C: In other news, I could use a little help. I have this new idea for an UlquiGrimm (with some GrimmUlqui) story, and I would like some comments. It's set in Edo-period Japan. _

_Basic beginning: Ulquiorra goes to a male teahouse, uses Grimmjow (in a very sexy, steamy way), and is interested by the other man's fiery persona, which is rare to see in a geisha, even a male one. Ulquiorra soon comes back to see him again, but when he goes upstairs to Grimmjow's room he finds that Grimmjow's latest customer has left him tied up and beaten. Grimmjow has tears in his eyes. When he sees Ulquiorra, he instantly looks away, and Ulquiorra only looks at him for a second before closing the door, going downstairs, and immediately buying Grimmjow from the teahouse. He comes back up and Grimmjow glares at him, daring him to judge him, and Ulquiorra explains that he's been bought as he unties him. Ulquiorra takes Grimmjow home with him. Come to find out that Ulquiorra is the head of the most infamous shinobi clan in Japan. _

_Now here is where I need a little filler from you guys! This is NOT of a sexual kind, but if you have an idea you really REALLY want to see, I can attempt to fit it in. But what I'm really asking for here is some good old-fashioned bonding. _

_So essentially there's an immediate connection on both parts, and while I have a few scenes (Ulquiorra noting a week later that Grimmjow's bruises haven't healed, Grimmjow talking about what life as a geisha was like, Grimmjow accidentally breaking a rule by handling an ancient family sword, Grimmjow attempting to cook and putting something Ulquiorra's allergic to in the food) there's a lot I need to fill in. So please, if you're reading this, I would LOVE to have some input as to scenes you would like to have between the two of them as they grow closer. I know this isn't likely to get a whole bunch of replies, since no-one reads these (myself included LOL), but please if you have any ideas comment me! I'd love to hear!_

Ulquiorra squatted by a pool, watching the miniature anemones sway. To the South of his uncle's- and his too, now, he supposed- house the sand of the beach turned into dark, frothy basalt rocks that stretched along the beach for miles, and in many places the seawater splashed up into craters in the rock during high tide, creating pools in which vibrant aquatic life lived. So far that day Ulquiorra had seen moray eels, starfish, anemones, and small octopodes. Yes, it was octopodes. The word octopi was a fallacy based on cactus/cacti, although octopuses could also be a suitable plural. Ulquiorra read a lot.

A wave washed up over his sandaled feet, and he enjoyed the cold shock. He didn't know if it was relief or torture to be breathing the salty air, feeling the water slide against his skin like silk, hearing the welcoming roar of the waves, buy not being able to jump in and bathe in it. The basalt was unlike the sand in that it creeped into the ocean for meters further, and if he were to step off the platform the rough rock created the water would be a foot over his head. But the water was clear, though dark, and rarely touched by any man. Ulquiorra thought that this was the most beautiful side of the island; the other sides were more highly industrialized, and the water was horribly brown-green for a hundred miles off the shore.

He would admit, it was nice that it was just him and the sea. Before whenever he was here he'd had to battle with other visitors and tourists for a square-foot space in the water, and could barely hear the calming sounds of the waves over the clamor of people laughing and squealing. But now that the beach was closed ti was serenely quiet, and Ulquiorra could focus on the incredible life that was present everywhere he looked.

In this particular pool there was one relatively small red starfish and five anemones: two red, three purple. There was a decently sized hole in the wall of the pool that could house just about anything. Ulquiorra named this pool AF, noted its approximate location on the detailed map he had, and in his notebook wrote down the different life forms he saw. He stood and looked around for the next pool.

It wasn't within sight, and he set off in the same direction he'd been going all day. There was a pier in another few miles, and he wanted to get there; but the sun was riding low in the sky, and he knew that after the next pool he should start back. The wind off the water was soothingly cool against his bare arms and calves at the moment, but when the darkness started to come he knew it would be cold he still had just enough time before he had to turn back, though, and he intended to stretch it.

Ulquiorra stopped and blinked at a dot of yellow-pink conspicuously standing against the black rock. I was a few feet away from him, crouching down by the closest pool. It was a crab of some kind- Ulquiorra couldn't name it off the top of his head. It looked up at him as he looked down at it, clicking its claw on the ground as if to tell him that this pool belonged to it and Ulquiorra better not try anything. Ulquiorra blinked again, and the crab scuttled sideways towards the water with hollow clacking sounds. Ulquiorra followed it a few paces behind and watched it drop off the ledge; he looked over after the splash to see it float down into the blue.

He turned back to the pool, adjusting his hold on his notebook.

.:!:.:!:.:!:.:!:.:!:.:!:.:!:.:!:.:!:.:!:.:!:.:!:.:!:.:!:.

Uncle Gin was waiting for him outside the house, scanning the shoreline. The sun was almost gone under the waves, and just as expected it was getting cold. There were goosebumps on Ulquiorra's shoulders.

"Ah! There ya are!" Gin called, coming down the steps onto the sand and bouncing over. "I made chili! Do ya want some?"

"Yes, please," Ulquiorra said, feeling his stomach rear up at the mention of food. Gin got to him an threw an arm around his shoulder.

"Good, good!" he said. "I know it's not the most island-ish o' foods, but I thought ya'd be hungry."

"I am," Ulquiorra admitted, thinking of the tiny and unsatisfying lunch he had packed for himself this morning, "Very much so. Chili sounds great." Gin grinned.

"So how'd it go out there?" he asked.

"It was productive," Ulquiorra said. "I logged the contents of 37 pools today and I have a species of crab to look up." Gin hummed.

"And ya were okay not goin' in the water?" he asked. Ulquiorra sighed.

"Not really," he said, "but it's not like I have a choice, and I still get to put my eft in. It's bearable." he looked up at his uncle, and immediately felt bad. Gin's smile had shrunken by a molar or two, and Ulquiorra knew he worried- everyone knew that Ulquiorra's favorite thing was swimming out deep to the reefs and just sitting in the midst of all that life, and Gin had probably known from the moment the beaches shut down months ago that Ulquiorra would be upset. Hell, Gin was probably upset too. He enjoyed the ocean almost as much as Ulquiorra did. Suddenly Ulquiorra felt selfish.

"Don't you have a boat at the pier?" he asked. "We should go out in it tomorrow. Have a picnic on the water." Gin blinked, then smiled happily. Ulquiorra could tell it meant something.

"Don'cha wanna finish with tha pools?" Gin asked.

"I can work on it when we get back," Ulquiorra said. "I have all summer, don't I?" Gin shrugged as they headed onto the wrap-around porch, Ulquiorra reaching out to open the door.

"I s'pose that's true," Gin said, leading them in after Ulquiorra kicked off his thoroughly sand-filled shoes. "Is it really alright?"

"Of course," Ulquiorra said. "I came here to see you, too. Is that the chili I smell? It smells great." Gin's grin widened. Little known to the rest of the world, Gin was an avid cook and the easiest way to get on his good side was tell him how good he was at it- not that anyone ever had to lie to do that.

"Let's hope it's as good as you think it is, huh? C'mon, I already dished you up some. Whaddaya wanna take fer lunch?"

"We should make sandwiches or something," Ulquiorra said, following his uncle through the family room into the kitchen, where (to his delight) a bowl of thick red chili was waiting for him. It looked like it had at least three kinds of beans, and chunks of raw hamburger too. His mouth watered. "Fruit is good too, if you have any."

"Oh, I got tons," Gin said, sitting across from Ulquiorra as the teenager stuffed the heavy chili into his mouth gratefully. "Plums, a'course, 'n strawberries 'n mangoes 'n kiwis. Ya want me to bring carrots 'r somethin' vegetable-like?"

Ulquiorra had to swallow thickly to answer, feeling the food warm him somewhere in his pit. "No, thank you," he said, "unless you want them." Gin chuckled.

"Ya never were much one fer yer greens," he said. "What should we bring to drink?"

"Water," Ulquiorra said, "and orange Fanta."

"And aloe," Gin said. "Yer shoulders got sunburnt."

"Really?" Ulquiorra asked, turning to look. Just as his uncle said, his skin was a painful-looking bright red that stood out like nothing on his pale skin. "Crap."

"Take a cold shower when yer done eatin'," Gin said. "An' wear sunblock tomorra." Ulquiorra grimaced.

"I can't believe I forgot that," he said.

"It's alright," Gin said. "Take yer lumps."

"And an icy shower."

"An' that."


End file.
